“…please blame it on the Son of the Morning”
– Jay-Z
Zora arrived at her grandmother’s house and she sat in her car in the driveway for long enough to finish crying and to fix her face. Crying alone – in her car, in various rooms of her house, on the bench in the park near her house – was familiar to Zora by that point, since that day years ago when her grandmother had told her she’d spoken to her dead husband who delivered the unfortunate news about Zora’s babies. It was a school day and Richard couldn’t take off in such short notice, so Zora had arrived alone despite her mother’s stern warning against going to see the old woman.
“That woman is crazy,” Rebecca Smith had said, “she always have been…”
“Mama, she ’bout to die.”
“Good riddance, maybe you can finally find some peace, enjoy that beautiful family you got instead of worrying about stupid stories.”
“Mama, I do enjoy my family, I love them with all of me…”
“That’s why you treat lil Lincoln like he a bastard stepchild?”
Zora was offended by the accusation, “I give my baby love…”
“Don’t give me that, Zora, I done seen you with that boy. How can you give him love if you so scared of him that everybody can see it? That beautiful little boy, it’s child abuse…”
“You ain’t see the stuff I done see around him mama! He can be cruel…and…and…”
“What?” Rebecca asked. “What he do that every other little boy his age ain’t doing? Be that boy’s mama and show him discipline when he act up, but give him love all the time.”
“Mama…I done see the devil in him, I heard it on the baby monitor…”
“You stop that right now!” Rebecca snapped. “You keep taking like that, I’m gone come get my grandbaby. I promise you. Now, you a grown woman, you gone do what you gone do, but you need to let your grandmama die and all that nonsense she talk with her. I love you, I will talk to you soon.”
Rebecca hung up before Zora could respond, and even if there was a part of her that knew her mother was right about the trouble her grandmother had brought to her life, there was a bigger part that was convinced that her grandmother had at least given her a chance to save Lincoln from the beast within him.
When she had composed herself in the car, she went inside and was surprised at the number of relatives who had already gathered. She hugged them all and they exchanged stories of better times, sorrow at the thought of Mary no longer alive to preside over the family.
When she had made her way through the full living room and was about to ascend the stairs to her grandmother’s room, her aunt Dorothy stopped her. She grabbed Zora’s hands in her own and she kissed her niece on the cheek.
“I’m glad you by yourself,” Dorothy said. “She been talking about you all night.”
“Aunt Dot, why she been talking about me when she about to die?”
Dorothy pursed her lips and shook her head slowly. She put a hand on Zora’s cheek.
“You always been such a nice, pretty girl. Your grandmama always been so proud of you. She talking to angels about you now, tryin to figure out if there’s anything she can do for you before she move on to heaven.”
Tears began to well on Zora’s eyes.
“Mama said all this…it’s hurting my baby…my Lincoln…”
“Your mama love you,” Dorothy said and hugged Zora with one arm around her shoulder as they slowly ascended the stairs. “She want to protect you, but ignoring the devil won’t do nobody no good. She keep saying this all nonsense, that your grandmama the one making things worse, but that ain’t how you should think about it. You know your grandmama love you, she’ll do anything to keep you safe. That’s always been true and it’s true now.”
Zora was gently sobbing as her aunt talked. She only half listened. She believed her grandmother’s warnings and she believed that her grandfather had found a way back from heaven to protect his granddaughter from the devil, she didn’t need Dorothy’s reasoning.
When they made it to Mary’s room, Dorothy stood at the door and motioned Zora inside. The room smelled of chemicals and there was a nurse by Mary’s bedside. The woman looked at Zora with a mournful face and when Zora looked at Mary, the woman had a look of agony on her face.
“I’m so sorry…” Mary managed in a weak voice that seemed to croak from her throat. Then her head hit the pillow and her eyes never opened again.
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